If America is dying, what is it dying of?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Redd Foxx once said, "It would be awful to be lyin' in a hospital dyin' of nothing"

So, if America is dying..what is it dying of? Feel free to add other ailments.

[Selatius]

1. I would think the primary culprit is greed and excess.

Ignorance can be cured with information, but greed is much harder to defeat.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. It's Not Dying, So I Have No Option In Which To Answer.

America will be fine.

Someone claiming america is dying is being as irrationally dramatic as someone who has a bad head cold claiming that they're dying.

[soothsayer]

3. Well, we're all dying. It's a lifelong process. It's only a matter of WHEN.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

35. "It's Not Dying,...America will be fine." Doubleplus good! n/t

[PDJane]

4. All of the above,

plus the drive to empire. Empires tend to collapse from overreach. Unfortunately, empires abroad and freedom at home are incompatible; all empires slide into totalitarianism, because the need to support the empire and the military apparatus means that absolutely iron-fisted rule is necessary at home.

[cali]

5. Every culture- like every person- is in the process of dying.

it's simply part of how things work.

[SoCalDem]

6. consumption..n/t

[annabanana]

39. also my first thought!. . . . .. . . . . .n/t

[soothsayer]

7. Lack of sovereignty. We lost that in 1948 or 49 when the CIA was created and

the gov't suddenly allowed itself to take and use our money in secret, carrying out all kinds of secretive things (wars, assassinations, godnoze what) without even having to tell our elected reps INCLUDING I might add, the prez. Once that happened, we were screwn.

[Karenina]

8. STUPIDITY!

[KG]

9. greed will kill this country.

been saying it for years. it's coming true.

[On the Road]

10. Capitalism Only Had One Vote?

I have an MBA and work in business, but it's obvious that whatever your prescription, the whole economic mess has been caused by uncontrolled capitalism and unrestrained growth policies.

[KG]

12. having greed and capitalism is somewhat of a redundancy.

[On the Road]

37. Not At All

There is just as much as much greed and corrpution in state-run economies. As the Russians used to say: "If you are not stealing from your employer, you are stealing from your family." The goal is not to change human emotions, but to remove from capitalism the most destructive consequences of greedy impulses.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

11. Greednorance. nt

[Oregone]

13. How about: HUMANITY?

Human nature contains a decent combination of the traits you list. Would you expect more from a creature who has at least a 10 thousand year track record of failure?

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

14. Nonsustainable lifestyle.... excess.... ignorance... apathy

[4lbs]

15. I was going to vote for apathy, but I'm past the point of caring anymore.

n/t

[Aristus]

16. Rapidly Progressive, Metastatic Constitutionoma.

It is reversible, and aggressive treatment is on the way, but so far, the prognosis is not good...

[AndrewP]

17. By far ignorance

That opens the flood gates for everything else.

[The2ndWheel]

18. The inability to escape phyiscal reality

It catches up.

[hamsterjill]

19. Greed and lack of compassion

Greed. And under that heading, I would include the inability of some people to have empathy and compassion for others.

There are some very rich people in this country who simply won't try to understand the plight of people who are less fortunate. If they don't think about it, to them, it does not exist.

[Warpy]

20. All of that and more

For instance, you forgot superstition.

Christianity in this country has largely devolved into a sort of Lord of the Flies type of folk religion, an utterly ridiculous mishmash of myth and ceremony with little behind it but an us vs. them mentality because mainstream churches failed for over a century to denounce the blasphemy of Dispensationalism. They mistakenly thought they could achieve Christian solidarity with people who thought they could sin at will because their tickets were permanently punched for heaven, a terrible mistake they still haven't come to terms with and which threatens to tear this country apart.

And then there is Empire.

While the push for Empire undoubtedly has its roots in greed and hubris, it deserves its own special category since it's a fantasy of a relatively few obscenely wealthy men that bankrupts the rest of us whenever it is pursued. As it bankrupts us, it destroys our civil rights because the rich know the poor resent being beggared in the name of someone else's glory.

Sadly, I'm sure there's even more.

[TahitiNut]

21. Antisocial personality disorder.

:shrug:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

27. I was going to add constipation and silliness but I ran out of room.

But, I find your evaluation to be a nice roundup of what I did post.

[Uben]

22. Gluttony

nt

[rucky]

23. Short-sightedness

which is a combination of greed and ignorance.

[blindpig]

24. Capitalism

and golf.

[Edweird]

25. America isn't 'dying'.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

26. Greed and ignorance

are the primary culprits. Both began escalating dramatically after January 1981, as I recall.

[Myrina]

28. Greed, Apathy and Ignorance, combined.

Sigh.

[Arctic Dave]

29. Greed is like drug addiction.

It can be overcome with help but rarely, if ever does, it cure itself. Death is usually the only brake on addiction unless helped to overcome it.

So, yeah, if the US doesn't get help with our greed addiction, death is only a matter of time.

[frebrd]

30. Arrogant greed and determined ignorance. n/t

[texanshatingbush]

31. Inability to make or recognize a cogent argument.....and no understanding of history n/t

[zonmoy]

32. I think that we are dying of imperialism.

a nation becomes an empire and in order to keep their empire they sow the seeds of their own destruction.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Mike 03]

34. Almost voted for "Apathy," which is somewhat close to my answer.

I believe we are dying from the lack of any sense of sharing a unified purpose.

We have been taught by conditions to look out primarily for ourselves. We've not been asked to sacrifice, and even if we were asked to sacrifice in the past, we were asked by leaders we could not believe in and who were not sacrificing for.

But I do believe things are changing even as we speak. Never have I been so eager to have my President ask something of me.

[Nay]

36. Other: Stupidity

[and-justice-for-all]

38. It's domanance and influence is dying...

from a virus called republicanism.

[Swamp Rat]

40. The GOP Virus

Symptoms include: "all of the above." :D

[TahitiNut]

41. Virus or bacteria?

If a virus, then the body politic needs to be injected with the DEAD virus in order to elevate antibodies. If a bacteria, then there's a possible antibiotic. Education? Critical thinking? Mandatory community service?

Inquiring minds (nit pickers) wont two no. (Great graphic, my friend!)

[Kip Humphrey]

42. fascism.

[Canuckistanian]

43. "Ignorance of Greed" would have been a good choice

But either by themselves will do.

[goddess40]

44. Republican poisoning

I hope we have the right antidote now.

[baby_mouse]

45. Self-obsession?

The delusion that there's a sort of invisible physical, cultural, philosophical, spiritual and historical forcefield seperating America from everyone else?